Forced Silence
by Dragonmyst
Summary: a member of the Andromeda is taken prisoner and the rest of the crew is at a loss as to who did it and why
1. Default Chapter

Title: Forced Silence Author: MysticDragon Rating: R for language, violence and hints of rape and torture Genre: Angst, drama Pairing: none as of yet Disclaimer: They aren't mine. They belong to Tribune and co. Spoilers: None as of yet Summary: a member of the Andromeda is taken prisoner and the rest of the crew is at a loss as to who did it and why A/N: This is a response to doxymom's Dumb challenge on the SSU board  
  
Story Teaser:  
  
Her frail body, beaten and bloodied, hung limply from the chains suspended from the ceiling. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. She knew from the warmth of the light peeking through the tiny opening on the wall opposite her, that morning had arrived once more. As much as she longed to feel the sunlight on her aching skin, she dreaded the mornings. Mornings meant "THEY" would return. Mornings meant more questions she would not, COULD not, answer. Mornings meant beatings and angry words shouted at her. Mornings meant pain. And she knew, in the recesses of her tortured mind, that one morning soon, perhaps today, would mean her death. 


	2. one

Chapter 1  
  
Dylan sat at his desk staring into space. He had no idea what to do next and he hated the feeling of helplessness that encompassed him. It had been three weeks since his first officer had disappeared from a routine supply run to a small nameless drift. She and Harper had gone there to pick up a few parts for the Maru. The local law enforcement had contacted Dylan several hours after they had arrived. The "Enforcer" as he was known had been unwilling to give any details, just asking Dylan to come to the drift because his "people" needed him. Dylan arrived, expecting to find that Harper had somehow caused his usual trouble but he was unprepared for the news that awaited him.  
  
Flashback:  
  
Dylan and Tyr walked slowly into the dingy building where they had been told they could find Harper. Both were frustrated that they had been unable to get any information from the locals about what had happened to their friends. Dylan was shocked when he saw his Chief Engineer lying on a filthy cot. His clothing was torn and his hair was matted with dried blood. But it was the young man's face that truly scared Dylan. Harper's face appeared bloodless and his eyes, while open, did not blink or appear to be seeing anything. Dylan knelt in front of him and gently reached out a hand touching his shoulder. For a moment he was afraid that Harper was dead, he was so still and lifeless. But after what seemed an eternity, Harper looked up at him. As if waking from a dream, Harper slowly looked from Dylan to Tyr and then back again. He slowly sat up. Reaching up with a trembling hand, he hesitantly touched Dylan's arm as if afraid that what he was seeing wasn't real. When he encountered flesh and bone, he quickly collapsed against his Captain, sobs racking his body. Dylan awkwardly patted the young man he had come to think of as family wondering what had happened to render him into such a state. Looking up at Tyr, Dylan was dismayed to see actual fear in the large man's eyes.  
  
'And where is Beka?' Dylan wondered, fear beginning to creep it's way into his heart. 


	3. chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
The sound of the door opening brought Dylan back to the present. Looking up he saw Harper enter his office. Harper's injuries had healed but the emotional trauma he suffered still showed itself clearly on his ragged features. Dylan felt his heart constrict when he thought once again of what the young engineer had gone through during his short life. He felt the bile start to rise in his throat as his memories carried him, unwillingly, back to the place where this nightmare had begun.  
  
Flashback:  
  
Dylan gently disengaged himself from Harper. Pushing the younger man back down onto the cot, he patted his arm reassuringly.  
  
"Harper, what happened to you?" He asked quietly. "Who did this?"  
  
His first instinct was to find the person and rip their hearts out for hurting his friend. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He knew that Harper had to be handled gently or they would never be able to get the story from him. And right now Harper's story was the only clue they had to where Beka was and what had happened to them both.  
  
Harper tried to calm the torrent of tears that was cascading down his face. His entire body ached but it was his heart that hurt the most. He had never in his life been more terrified than he had in the last few hours, not even during the Magog attacks on his family and friends back on Earth.  
  
Tyr knelt down at the head of the cot. With a gentleness that surprised both Harper and Dylan, he wiped away the tears that flowed from Harper's eyes.  
  
"You must be strong now, little man. You must let us know what has happened to both yourself and Captain Valentine. You must trust us to avenge your pain." He said softly.  
  
In truth, Tyr was afraid. He had seen the look in Harper's eyes and recognized it for what it was. Hopelessness. He remembered the same look staring back at him from another set of eyes; eyes that had witnessed the end of the owner's world. He had seen the same look in his own eyes when his pride had been slaughtered. It was a look he had hoped never to see again.  
  
Harper looked up at the two men he had come to trust and call his friends. He sat up once again trying in vain to calm the beating of his heart. Closing his eyes he saw once again the images that he knew would haunt him forever. He and Beka had just finished loading the parts they had scrounged for the Maru and were going back to town to grab something to eat before heading back to the Andromeda. They were laughing and chatting about nothing in particular. Then suddenly the images changed. Harper shook his head and covered his ears trying to block out the sounds he knew were coming next; the sounds of gun fire and the screams of his best friend, his boss, his only true family. Next came the images. Beka lying on the ground covered in blood, him trying to reach her while dozens of arms pushed him back, huge fists coming towards him and him falling to the ground. Then came pain like he had remembered only from his nightmares. And the final image of Beka being carried off, her body hanging limply in the arms of a man he had never before seen, and hoped to never see again.  
  
"I can't!" he whispered so quietly that even Tyr with his superior hearing almost missed it.  
  
"Who did this Harper?" Dylan asked once more. And though he dreaded what might be revealed, he had to know the answer to his next question. "What happened to you and what has happened to Beka?" 


	4. chapter three

Chapter 3:  
  
Before he could relive the horror of hearing his questions answered, Dylan was brought back to the present by the sound of Harper clearing his throat. Looking up, Dylan was not surprised to find Harper's eyes on the floor before him instead of looking at his Captain. Harper refused to look at any of them. He was a mere shell of his former hyper self. Dylan knew he blamed himself for not being able to help Beka and while no one else thought less of him, Harper still refused to accept that it wasn't his fault.  
  
"Can I help you, Mister Harper?" Dylan asked quietly.  
  
"Umm, yeah, I was just, umm, wondering if maybe, you had, you know." He trailed off, shuffling his toes against the carpet.  
  
Dylan sighed. It was the same everyday. Harper would come to him and ask if there was any news on Beka. Dylan would then have to tell him there wasn't, causing them both immense grief. Harper would go back to his workroom and they wouldn't see or hear from him again until the next morning when the cycle repeated itself.  
  
Just as Dylan was opening his mouth to answer Harper, Rommie came barging into his office. She was practically out of breath, which was, of and in itself, a shocking achievement for an android.  
  
Without any formalities, she announced, "I think we found her!" She then turned smartly on her heel and left the room as abruptly as she had arrived.  
  
The two men stared at her retreating back for a split second before turning and meeting each other's eyes for the first time in three weeks. Without another moment's hesitation, they were both running out the door, heading for command.  
  
Harper's thoughts were racing as quickly as his body. Rommie's words kept echoing in his mind. Five simple words but they meant the world to Harper. They meant there was still hope. 


	5. four

Chapter 4  
  
She knew they were coming before she heard them.  
  
'Hell,' she thought with a wry grin, 'I can practically smell them.' She was overcome with the overpowering need to laugh out loud at the thought but all she could manage was a weak cough.  
  
The sound of the metal door screeching open caused her heart to start beating wildly in her chest. Sweat ran down her dirtied, bruised face in rivulets.  
  
'Please don't let it be him!' She cried silently. 'Let it be anyone but him!'  
  
She suddenly realized that the Divine had a perverse sense of humor.  
  
"Honey! I'm hooome!" her captor's voice called out, dripping with sarcasm.  
  
She could smell the stench of him as he came to stand directly in front of her. She could feel his hot breath against her skin and the urge to vomit was great. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that she had had no food in her stomach for three days now.  
  
"Did you miss me?" he whispered in her ear. "I definitely missed you. How could I not miss my favorite little plaything?" he laughed, patting her roughly on her already sore cheek.  
  
He stepped back and she could hear him talking to someone else in quiet tones. A couple of minutes later, she felt the cold metal tip of a needle touch her skin. Her mind screamed out in agony as the ice cold liquid entered her life's blood.  
  
"Now then, my dear Captain Valentine, once again we shall dance our little dance." The voice snarled. "I want you to tell me everything you know about your dear old Uncle Sid." 


	6. five

Chapter 5  
  
Dylan followed closely behind Rommie as they ran toward command. Like Harper, his thoughts centered on the announcement Rommie had made just moments before in his office. They had found Beka and they were going to get her back. He could only pray that once she was back with them and safe that this nightmare would end. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, some dark, evil voice was whispering to him that this was only the beginning of a nightmare that would haunt them all for the rest of their lives.  
  
Shaking his head to clear away the voice of doom he was hearing, he concentrated on reaching his destination as quickly as possible.  
  
'Hang on, Beka.' He thought. 'We're coming for you.'  
  
Meanwhile  
  
The pain was so intense she blacked out. But the respite of oblivion was brief as the poison worked its way deeper into her body, deeper into her very soul. After a couple of minutes, the chemicals began to interact with her body chemistry and worked as a stimulant to make sure she was awake and aware of everything around and within her. She could literally feel the poison seep into each and every pore of her body and she knew that it was killing her. They had used this particular poison on her several times. She remembered the first time she had felt it. She had thought she would die then. She wished she had.  
  
Flashback  
  
Beka struggled with the chains that held her. She was scared but she was also very, very angry. She had awakened shortly before with absolutely no idea where she was and only a vague memory of what had happened. She and Harper had been going back into the pitiful excuse for a town on that even more pitiful excuse of a drift. They were laughing and talking when all of a sudden someone had shot her. Just like that. One minute she was walking and teasing Harper and the next she was lying in the dirt with a hole in her arm. She remembered thinking briefly that it was very odd that some outdated weapon could actually hurt her after all the times she had dodged much more sophisticated weapons. She looked up to see Harper trying to reach her but at least half a dozen men had come out of hiding and were pushing him back, keeping him from her. One of them slugged him hard and she struggled to rise to her feet to stop the man from hurting her friend but fell back into the dirt with a groan. Looking up she saw the same man that had punched Harper inject him with something from a needle. That was the last thing she remembered until she woke up here, chained to the ceiling, with her shoulder bandaged and aching. She was unsure of how much time had passed while she was unconscious although it had to have been at least a day or two.  
  
'And what the hell have they done to Harper?' she thought to herself.  
  
Just then the door opened with a loud screech. Beka cringed as the sound set her teeth on edge. Several men walked into the room including the one she recognized as hurting Harper. Beka glared at him and the man quelled slightly. He had the distinct impression that had her arms been free he would have been dead.  
  
A short man Beka instantly recognized stepped forward. Beka turned her glare onto him but unlike the other one, this man did not flinch from her angry stare. Instead, he laughed and reached out his hand to stroke her cheek. Beka turned her head from his touch and spat at him. He struck her hard, causing her head to snap back with a loud crack.  
  
"Never do that again!" he snarled before snapping his fingers at the men behind them. One of them instantly stepped forward and wiped the spittle from his boss's face with his shirtsleeve.  
  
Beka laughed as the sycophant instantly stepped back into the ranks of the other men.  
  
"Wow, I am impressed." Beka said sarcastically. "What other tricks do they do? Wipe your ass? Aim for you when you piss?"  
  
"I can see already that I am going to enjoy our time together." He laughed. "As for their tricks, I am sure you will get to know most of them really well over the next few days.or weeks" he added ominously.  
  
"Oh, be still my heart." Beka said. "I can hardly wait."  
  
"Enough! Why don't we just cut to the chase? You and I have a mutual friend and you are going to help me find him." The man said, walking to stand beside a small table.  
  
"A mutual friend? Really? I am surprised. I didn't realize any of my friends had sunk so low as to have dealings with slime-balls like you." Beka said.  
  
At a slight nod from his leader, the man Beka knew to have hurt Harper walked up to her and slapped her across the face. He raised his hand to slap her again but before he could, Beka acted. She brought her legs up quickly, using the man's own body for leverage, and wrapped them around the man's neck. Before anyone could react, she twisted. The man slumped to the ground at her feet.  
  
"That's for hurting my friend!" she screamed. "Where is he? What have you done to him?" she demanded.  
  
After the initial shock of seeing his second in command lying dead at the feet of the small, chained woman, the leader of the group of thugs began to clap.  
  
"Oh, very good Miss Valentine. You really are as good as our Intel said. However, you now have left me with the tedious job of replacing my man. That really was inconsiderate of you."  
  
"Yeah, my heart is bleeding for you." Beka drawled.  
  
"Not yet, but it may before we are finished." He said menacingly.  
  
Turning to a tall black man, he motioned for the body to be taken from the room. He picked up a small item from the table. Turning back to Beka, he said, "I had hoped to save this for a later time, after we had gotten to know each other a little better but I think you need to be taught that this isn't a game."  
  
Walking over to her, he held up a syringe that contained an ample amount of neon blue liquid. Holding it in front of her face he asked, "Do you know what this is?" Not waiting for an answer he continued, "Of course you don't. It's my own little cocktail creation. I call it Blue Ice." He slowly inserted the long needle into her arm. "First it freezes your blood." He slowly started to push the plunger, letting the liquid flow into her veins.  
  
Beka immediately felt an almost overwhelming pain start to creep through her body. It felt as though she was freezing and burning at the same time.  
  
"Then it mixes itself with your bodies natural enzymes creating a very powerful stimulant." He continued to pump the vile fluid into her body. "But it only stimulates your senses and body functions. It leaves the rest of your body unable to move."  
  
Beka's body began to tremble ever so slightly as the poison flowed through her. Blood trickled from her mouth as she bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep from screaming in agony.  
  
"I have been told the pain it causes is quite extreme. One poor test subject even had his internal organs explode from the stress. It made quite a mess in the lab." He said, shaking his head in a mock mournful fashion. With one final vengeful look into her face, he flushed the rest of the poison into her arm and ripped the needle back out. "Within a couple of minutes, you will wish you had been the one carried out of here instead of my second." Turning, he left the room followed by his men. The loud screech of the closing door was drowned out by the sound of Beka screaming in anguish. 


	7. six

Chapter 6  
  
Beka was rudely brought back to the present by a sharp tug on her hair.  
  
"I asked you a question. I expect an answer!" her torturer spat.  
  
Taking a deep, ragged breath, Beka muttered, "Yeah, well, life's a bitch and you don't always get what you want."  
  
"You are really trying my patience. I want to know where Sid is!"  
  
"I.don't know." Beka said slowly. "I haven't seen him for.months."  
  
"Then you aren't worth much to me." Turning to the others, the fiend said, "Have fun with her boys. Then maybe she will be willing to cooperate a little more."  
  
Beka could only whimper as the men approached her and unchained her, letting her aching body drop to the ground in a heap. She tried to fight when she felt hands on her body but her arms simply wouldn't obey her commands. She closed her eyes and let her mind carry her off, far away from the groping hands and the pain they were causing her.  
  
Meanwhile:  
  
Dylan and Harper arrived on the command deck shortly after Rommie.  
  
"Well?" Dylan demanded. "Where is she?"  
  
"Right where we left her." Tyr stated with a growl.  
  
"What?" Harper squeaked.  
  
"We found records that indicate that the Enforcer on the drift is actually the leader of a band of mercenary killers. His latest assignment seems to be none other than Beka's dear sweet Uncle Sid." Tyr said darkly. "We are assuming that it isn't a coincidence"  
  
"How soon will we be back at the drift?" Dylan asked stonily. Inside he was boiling. They had been right there and they had left her. The guilt he felt was overwhelming.  
  
"Two hours, ten minutes, 25 seconds. Approximately." Rommie stated firmly. "Let's bring it." Dylan stated. Turning he left the room quickly without looking back. Harper tried to follow but Trance placed her hand on his arm and gently shook her head, indicating they should give him some privacy.  
  
Once back in his private quarters, Dylan sat at his desk and buried his head in his hands.  
  
"I am so sorry Beka." He mumbled. "I let you down. He stood suddenly and angrily swiped his arms across his desk, sending items flying across the room. "But I swear, we will find you. And I am going to personally kill the bastard responsible for hurting you." 


	8. seven

Chapter 7 Spoilers for Cui Bono  
  
She was alone again. They had chained her back up but hadn't bothered to replace the filthy, ragged clothing she had been wearing. She shivered as the chill air struck her fragile, half naked body. Her eyes were swollen shut and the tears that had been leaking from behind her blackened, swollen lids had dried. Beka welcomed the silence and the darkness. It was comforting to her, assuring her that she was finally alone; assuring her that her tormenters were truly gone. Now she could die in peace.  
  
Dylan paced his office restlessly. They were nearing the drift where Beka had last been seen. While he wasn't a devout believer, he had nonetheless said at least a dozen prayers to the Divine in last two hours. They would find Beka. They had to. Any other course of action was simply not an option. He felt as though he was dead inside and he knew he would stay that way without her.  
  
The chime on his door interrupted his thoughts. The door slid open to reveal Trance. She walked into the room, silently looking around at the mess he had created. He gave her a sheepish half grin and shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly.  
  
"Well, it looks like you have been productively passing the time." She said with a small grin.  
  
"Just practicing destroying things for when I find the bastard that took Beka." He said with a wry grin.  
  
"I see." She said slightly raising her eyebrow.  
  
"What can I do for you Trance?" he asked with a sigh.  
  
"I was bringing you some more information about the contract on Sid. Tyr found out it has to do with what happened on Golden Harvest. The son of one Sid's enemies that was killed as a result of his revenge fund hired the Enforcer to find and kill Sid. Sid obviously found out about the hit because he disappeared about two months ago without a trace." Trance said.  
  
"So when Beka appeared on the drift, this Enforcer probably decided she was his best chance to find Sid." Dylan said with contempt.  
  
"That would be our best assumption." Trance said sadly.  
  
"Damn it!" Dylan swore, kicking at the pile of debris lying at his feet.  
  
"Dylan, it wasn't your fault. Beka went to the drift willingly. None of us could have known."  
  
"That doesn't make me feel any better, Trance."  
  
"I know but I had to try." She said with a hint of a smile.  
  
"I just want her back." He sighed.  
  
"We will get her back, Dylan. There isn't any other option."  
  
"I know. I miss her so much. I need her, Trance." He said sadly, sitting back at his desk and looking at the one item he hadn't smashed earlier. It was a picture of the crew; his crew. Beka was at the forefront of the picture, wearing her trademark grin.  
  
"We all need her Dylan." Trance said turning to go. "More than you could possibly know." She added to herself as she left the room.  
  
Inside the darkened room, the lone figured stirred slightly and then stilled once more. Her frail body, beaten and bloodied, hung limply from the chains suspended from the ceiling. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. She knew from the warmth of the light peeking through the tiny opening on the wall opposite her, that morning had arrived once more. As much as she longed to feel the sunlight on her aching skin, she dreaded the mornings. Mornings meant "THEY" would return. Mornings meant more questions she would not, COULD not, answer. Mornings meant beatings and angry words shouted at her. Mornings meant pain. And she knew, in the recesses of her tortured mind, that one morning, perhaps this morning, would mean her death.  
  
She prayed today would be that day. 


	9. eight

Chapter 8  
  
The three figures approached the back of the large building just as the first rays of morning peeked over the hills. It had not taken long for them to find the location of the Enforcer. It seemed as though he was not a very popular leader with the denizens of the local town and when they saw a chance to be rid of him, they were more than willing to point the way to Dylan and the others.  
  
Easily dispatching the guards, Dylan signaled for them to enter the house. Once inside, they split up. Tyr took the left side of the large two-story building. Rommie stealthily climbed the large staircase that seemed to lead to the living area of what appeared to be a military barracks. Dylan went to the right and found himself in a long corridor with several doors. Heaving a deep sigh, he grasped the handle of the first door.  
  
Beka heard the squeal of the door but did not even have the strength to raise her head and see who was coming. Not that it mattered to her any longer. One torturer was the same as any other. She only prayed that whatever they had in store for her now would end quickly. She wanted some peace. Her biggest regret was in not knowing what had become of Harper. She assumed he was dead since she had not seen him. Surely if her captor had kept him alive, the bastard would have tried to use him as leverage to get her to talk. She also regretted not being able to say goodbye to Dylan and the others. She missed them all terribly and knew they were probably grieving for her and Harper.  
  
Dylan opened door after door without seeing anyone or anything. He could hear weapons being fired in the distance and knew his crew had found the Enforcer's men. So far he had run across no one; a fact that only increased his apprehension. Finally, reaching the final door in the corridor, he pushed it open slowly, cringing at the loud sound it made, and cautiously entered the room.  
  
Beka felt the pain in her head increase as the door squealed loudly once more. She was momentarily confused as to the sound but all thoughts of squealing doors were pushed from her mind at the sound of a voice she had been praying to hear every day for three long torturous weeks.  
  
"Beka?" Dylan cried out in anguish as he entered the room and saw her suspended on chains in the middle of the room. 


	10. nine

Tyr smiled slightly as he shot down yet another of the annoying pests that insisted on getting in his way. He turned a corner and came to a dead end. Cursing silently, he turned and started to retrace his steps.  
  
Rommie ducked the punch coming from the man in front of her while simultaneously firing her weapon at the other two men who were quickly approaching. She took both of them down in rapid succession and viciously backhanded the closest one, sending him slamming into the wall opposite her. She continued down the hallway, searching relentlessly for her first officer. She still could not understand exactly why she was unable to locate Captain Valentine's bio-signs and hoped fervently that it was not because Beka was beyond their help.  
  
Dylan approached Beka with trepidation. As much as he wanted to rush to her and release her bonds, he was fearful of what he would discover once he was close enough to her.  
  
"Please let her be alive!" he whispered over and over again as he forced himself to take another step closer to her seemingly lifeless body.  
  
Beka could hear his whispered pleas but found herself without adequate energy to move or even speak. She tried to force some sort of sound through her torn, bleeding lips to let him know she was alive but to her horror found herself unable to utter the slightest sound.  
  
Dylan stopped a couple steps away from Beka. To his immense relief he could see the faintest movement as her chest rose and fell. He reached out his trembling hand toward her. Just as he was about to push the sweat soaked hair from her face, a force slammed into him sending him sprawling. He lost his grip on his force lance and it went rolling across the floor. Gathering his wits, he rolled swiftly, barely avoiding the blast of the weapon that had been aimed at his unprotected back. He quickly upturned the only table in the room and ducked behind it as a second blast went whizzing past.  
  
"So you finally figured it out Hunt? Took you long enough." The Enforcer taunted.  
  
Ignoring the little man for the moment, Dylan looked around for his force lance. He spotted it several feet away to his left.  
  
"What's the matter, Hunt?" The Enforcer asked. "I was told you and your crew on that little bucket of bolts were the best in the known worlds. But here I took your first officer right out from under your nose and you never suspected a thing."  
  
Refusing to be baited, Dylan took a deep breath and dived for his weapon just as another bullet struck the ground next to where he had been just seconds before. Turning quickly, he fired, hitting his enemy's arm and making him drop his gun.  
  
With a sudden scream of rage, the Enforcer lunged at Dylan, surprising the larger man and knocking him off his feet. They struggled for a few minutes before Dylan's larger mass finally gave him an advantage as the smaller man's anger gave way to fear. Dylan managed to get a grip on the mercenary and forced him to his knees. Dylan wrapped his arm around the man's neck. The little man let out a whimper of pain as he looked desperately toward the door for help that wasn't coming.  
  
"Looking for your lackeys?" Dylan asked. "I doubt they will be coming anytime soon. My crew from that "bucket of bolts" will have made sure of that fact. It's just you and me now.Hiram." Dylan taunted him, using the identity Tyr had discovered for the little man.  
  
"You said you were told my crew and I were the best. " Dylan stated, tightening his grip slightly. "What else were you told about me? Were you told how much I care about my crew? Were you told how angry I get when one of my crew is hurt?" He demanded angrily, tugging sharply against Hiram's throat.  
  
"Please, Hunt! I will give you anything you want. Just let me go!" Hiram pleaded.  
  
"There is something I want." Dylan said with deadly calm. "I want to keep my promise." 


	11. ten

Part 9  
  
"What promise?" Hiram asked fearfully, although he already knew the answer.  
  
"The one where I promised I would personally kill the bastard that hurt Beka. "Dylan replied calmly. Bending close to his captive's ear, he whispered, "You shouldn't have touched her, Hiram."  
  
The room was eerily silent for a brief moment. The silence was broken by a small crack; a sound much like that of a dry twig breaking underfoot.  
  
Dylan slowly released his grip on the now lifeless body, letting it slide callously to the floor. Inhaling sharply, he turned his head and began retching violently. After a moment he rose, unsteadily to his feet and once more walked toward Beka. Dark thoughts ran through his head during the short walk, but he resolutely pushed them to the back of his mind and shut them up tightly. All that mattered right now was getting Beka out of there and back to the Andromeda Ascendant so that Trance could help her. He would deal with his own guilt and demons later. He wrapped his arm around her waist, wincing as he noticed how she was more than half starved, and reached up, releasing the hook that she had been chained to. He would have to find a key to release her from the metal cuffs around her wrists. Lowering her body to the ground as gently as possible, he quickly removed his shirt, wrapping it around her in hopes of offering her a modicum of warmth. He quickly went to the Enforcer's body and searched frantically through his clothing, finally finding the tiny key in one of the pockets. He released Beka's final bond and scooped her up, holding her tightly against his chest to keep her as warm as possible. He had just started toward the door when he heard the ominous squeak, indicating someone was forcing it open. Unable to fire his forcelance with any accuracy while carrying Beka, Dylan faced the door stubbornly, determined not to let anyone hurt Beka again.  
  
The door swung open to reveal the large outline of Tyr. He stood, framed in the doorway with his weapon drawn. He immediately lowered it when he saw Dylan standing in front of him, cradling Beka's broken body.  
  
"Is she.?" he started but was unable or unwilling to complete the question.  
  
Dylan shook his head. "She is alive but only just. We have to get her back immediately. Where is Rommie?"  
  
"She is standing watch at the end of the corridor. We were fairly certain you had to be somewhere along this hallway and wanted to keep any unwelcome company at bay. "  
  
Nodding again, Dylan began to move toward the door. As he passed Tyr, allowing the Neitchzen to get a good look at the horrors inflicted upon their crewmate, he heard Tyr's sharp intake of breath and a hastily muttered pledge to make the person responsible for Beka's torture pay for what they had done.  
  
With a sharp jerk of his back towards the room he was exiting, Dylan said, "Don't worry about it Tyr. The debt has been paid in full."  
  
Glancing at the already cooling corpse laying in an unceremonious heap, Tyr nodded his head once and then turned and followed his Captain out the door.  
  
The crew of the Andromeda met with little resistance on their way out of the complex. Few men were foolish enough to try and stop them. Those that were foolish enough, quickly learned what it meant to stand in the way of an angry Neitchzen and an even angrier android when a close friend of theirs was hurt and in need of immediate medical attention. 


End file.
